


Thank You For Shopping

by baeksbabygirl, quebaek (anonymousloris)



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Grocery Store
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-11-08 15:17:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11084298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baeksbabygirl/pseuds/baeksbabygirl, https://archiveofourown.org/users/anonymousloris/pseuds/quebaek
Summary: Jongdae is a new employee working at Wall to Wall, a supermarket/super store that has some...interesting employees. Each day is a new adventure working there.





	1. New Trainee

Chapter One:

_ This is only temporary _ , Jongdae thought to himself as he walked through the doors. He had filled out the application a while ago, but after going through the base of the interview, the background check, the drug test, and then  _ finally _ getting his uniform and nametag in order, he was to start his first day of training today. He wasn’t completely sure how the job was going to settle out, especially as they hadn’t been entirely specific as to what position he would be filling while he worked there. 

He had kind of checked off every box, just in the hopes of  _ getting _ the job in the first place.

Walking into the place, he had almost forgotten just how big the entire thing was. Two floors with a storage room that had to be massive, and which consisted of a pharmacy, a jewelry counter, an enormous electronics section, a few fitness and furniture aisles, and then also a whole grocery and produce section that took up what seemed to be at least a third of the second floor. The store was incredible, and he was lucky to have been hired at all. But of course, with stores like these they were always looking for new people - whether it was new cashiers, or those to work behind the desk in member services. Maybe they’d train him for all of it and he’d become some sort of ninja employee, darting between it all.

Jongdae laughed at the thought, but it was more than likely not going to happen like how he imagined it.

Walking up to the front desk, he told the man standing there that he was there for the training, that his name was Kim Jongdae, and that he wasn’t sure where to go, but he would follow directions if the man only told him where he should be heading. 

A grin etched easily onto the man’s face as he smiled, hand going up to clap Jongdae lightly on the back as he spoke and eased him forward, a hand outstretched as he began to walk, motioning for Jongdae to follow after him.

“Jongdae, it’s good to finally meet you. I’m Wu Yifan, though everyone around here just calls me Kris.” he fell back into that serious, almost intimidating expression that Jongdae had seen right before heading over to the man. “I understand that you had your initial interview with Amber.” he nodded, “Good, good. She’s one of the other managers on the floor here. You’ll meet Chanyeol sometime in your training, too. We’re the major managers on board at this store, though the district manager does pop in every few months just to check on the store and make sure we’re up to par with company standards.” Kris waved a hand dismissively before continuing, “I thought since I didn’t actually have the chance to interview you, and Amber said she hadn’t given you a store tour yet, I’d go ahead and do the honors, to start off the training before you head into all the boring safety videos.”

Kris walked Jongdae through the front of the store, just past the carriages and cash registers before leading him into the sectioned off area that was clearly the managers’ offices. There were four desks there when they first walked in, three of which were stuffed with personal belongings as well as merchandise that either needed to be inspected, looked into, or were for a task to be handled later.

“You’ll be watching the safety videos towards the end of your training today - in here. I’ll try to do most of the store tour in the next hour or so, but you’ll probably pick back up with the second floor tour tomorrow, when Amber is in. This is a large store, and it can be a lot to take in on your first day, so if you have questions feel free to ask any of us.” and then Kris was motioning back towards the entryway and commencing with the tour.

...

Kris had been right about it being large, and it was certainly a little overwhelming as well. The first section of the tour was dedicated to what Kris called the “front line”, meaning the cashiers and registers. He introduced some of the cashiers, their names slipping from Jongdae’s mind no more than a few minutes after he had been introduced to them. They were all really young, except for maybe two of them which seemed at least his age, and maybe one that was a few years older. No one over the age of thirty, at least. And there were seven of them on staff today - half of their registers packed with people already.

It was a Tuesday morning - Jongdae couldn’t understand why these people weren’t at school or work.

Next up came furniture. Jongdae was surprised when Kris led him over to that department, though it made sense considering it was the closest to both the cash registers as well as the main office. He could remember how secluded it had felt and almost personal when Amber had led him through the different couches and chairs strewn through the aisles.

It had been an interesting choice of location to have an interview, he had thought at the time, but it seemed to fit the quirkiness of the employees that he would continue to see that day.

“Jun.” Kris said as they rounded the corner, as if Kris knew exactly where the employees in that department would be at that moment. Jongdae hadn’t been paying enough attention to the manager that walked him around to notice that he had walkied the other employee just moments before. He’d have to pay more attention later - especially during that safety video.

“He’s doing it again, Kris.” the man before them said, eyebrows mushed together, clearly frustrated. Kris had led them towards the back of the store, where the emergency exit doors were. Jongdae glanced around, unsure who the employee was talking about until he saw a lean body crumpled up on the far edge of the large couch at the end of the aisle, half hidden in the shadows of the shelves surrounding him that held chairs and lamps and trash bins. 

Jongdae had never understood why this section was organized in this manner - wasn’t it dangerous if things like that fell?

“Leave him be, Jun.” Kris admonished with a click of his tongue, turning then to Jongdae with a serious expression on his face. “Jongdae, this is Junmyeon. Junmyeon, meet Jongdae. He’s a new trainee. Not quite sure where he’ll be placed, but for right now management is discussing training him on a few different departments. Start him off easy after all the video and safety work. Think he could handle it back here?” Jongdae wasn’t sure he actually wanted to be placed in the furniture and homegoods department. 

What did someone even do back here? 

There was a crack of something and then a loud yawn, clearly someone stretching and waking from a nap. Jongdae didn’t miss it when the boy that had been curled in the corner of that couch came out, rubbing at his eyes, standing and being careful not to hit his head, before then leaning against the hard metal shelving, as if he had been there and awake the whole time. He grinned, his hair quite frankly a mess of brown-blond atop his head, before he was tipping off his imaginary hat to Jongdae.

“Nice to meet you. Welcome to the team.” and he seemed to think himself funny, but Jongdae didn’t blink as he watched the boy gasp a little, holding up a finger before reaching into his pocket to pull something out. What he came back with was a name tag, which was then pinned carefully to his right side, atop his heart. “I’m Baekhyun, work in electronics and toys.” the boy said - or man, really, as Jongdae assumed he had to be at least over the age of eighteen, maybe even as old as Jongdae was. Baekhyun continued, “Come stop by if you ever need something.”

And then he was off, saluting his manager like they were in the army. Kris made no move to reproach the man, or stop him in any way. 

“As you can see, that was Baekhyun.” Kris said, nodding at his employee as he left, his figure snaking through the aisles and onto the middle section of the store where his department was held. 

Jongdae’s eyes widened a little before he turned back, and then jutted his chin out at the now empty couch, “Does he, uh, do that a lot?”

Junmyeon was the one to answer him, head shaking furiously, “A lot is an understatement.” and then in turning to Kris, he spoke up a bit more, “Honestly, I don’t know how that kid still has a job, why haven’t you fired him yet?” but Kris didn’t bother to say much to Junmyeon’s question other than shrug. When he finally did answer, it seemed a good enough response to Jongdae that he didn’t say anything else.

“Kid’s good at his job, no reason to fire him.” and then Kris was turning and motioning for Jongdae to follow after him, moving onto the next department and area of the tour. He followed dutifully behind, but not before he heard Junmyeon muttering beneath his breath about  _ preferential treatment _ ...

Heading through the rest of the store’s first floor, Kris very briefly directed him towards the middle where the aisles and aisles of toys and electronics were held. They passed by the electronics desk, surrounded by people asking questions and impatiently waiting their turn with the two standing in the area, clearly their department. Jongdae recognized one of them - Baekhyun - and he seemed much more awake and lively than he had only minutes ago back in furniture. With that, he also saw what Kris had meant about Baekhyun being good at his job.

He spoke with ease, and maybe a little with his hands too, as he grinned and smiled and laughed as he explained a product to the couple and two pre-teens standing before him. He was confident in what he was talking about, and both parents looked at ease as he continued, while both kids seemed excited.

That was why Kris hadn’t fired him, though he apparently slept openly on the merchandise. He probably sold more than anyone else in the store did, even if he did sleep on the job.

The kid standing beside Baekhyun was a little less than confident, and he often turned back to glance at Baekhyun and ask questions, interrupting him. Baekhyun didn’t seem to take it harshly though, and patted the kid on the shoulder as he explained and compared two things at once to the people standing on either side of him. 

Definitely a pro.

Kris continued to lead Jongdae through the store, gesturing here and there to the hundreds of aisles that looked actually almost flawless except for a few loose ends here and there. It was obvious that was more the customers’ fault than any of the employees. Kris seemed to take pride in all of his employees, and greeted them each by name as some passed by. Even going so far as to stop them, to introduce them to Jongdae and vice versa before moving forward. Kris spoke their name, knew which department they worked, and even how long they had been working with the company for. The manager made a comment on one of the girls that passed by. After introducing her as Jisoo, Kris explained that she had only been working with them for a few months and was already well on her way to becoming a supervisor for the clothing department upstairs as the store was just too vast for the three managers on board to handle on their own. 

Jisoo passed them, bowing her head in goodbye as she promised to stop by the office later.

The next stop on their tour happened to be the jewelry counter.

Kris didn’t introduce the jewelry employee as he had the others. This time, he nodded his head slowly at the tall, thin man before him and spread his hands out before asking his employee a question.

“Tell us about your favorite piece in the case.” he said. And so the man did.

Jongdae had never really been into jewelry, no more than simple necklaces, maybe earrings and watches, but as the man before him started to pull out a few pieces - all rings - and explained either the rarity of the stone, the history behind them and the deep color of the emeralds, sapphires and diamonds, Jongdae found himself fascinated and leaning in a little closer to see the shimmer in the pieces. 

Instead of being close to boredom and sleep, he was enthralled and intrigued. And that was when he realized that Kris had yet another employee under his belt that knew how to sell, and knew how to sell well. 

He was a bit amazed, and maybe even a little intimidated.

Kris chuckled before holding up a hand, asking the man to put the expensive rings away and introduce himself, saying first that Jongdae was new here - just a trainee - and would be spending a lot of time in each department before the management team placed him anywhere permanent.

The man grinned, beautiful smile lighting up a golden-tan face. Jongdae had been more watching the sparkle and gleam of the gems and rings in the man’s hands and had barely even noticed how similar the man was to the previous jewels in their cases. His jaw cut sharp, eyes piercing and gleaming, and the man seemed like a gem himself. 

Jongdae blinked and wondered if Kris had hired him more for his beauty or for his ability to sell. Neither hurt the company’s business, he knew for a fact. 

“Zitao, though you can call me Tao.” the man said - voice boyish as he introduced himself. He had such a different voice when speaking normally compared to when he spoke of the expensive luxuries hidden beneath the glass casing surrounding him. “Don’t be afraid to come ask me for advice if you ever need it.” and Jongdae could have sworn Tao actually winked at him when he said it.

Eyes wide as he turned, Jongdae let Kris say goodbye for the two of them and motion him back towards the front of the store and past the small cafe in the corner towards the entrance. Back towards the registers, only to stop at the customer service desk. 

Not surprising at all was the fact that of the three people sitting behind the desk, only one remained free for Kris to introduce Jongdae to.

“Lu, got that key pass ready for us yet?” Kris asked the man behind the desk, no introduction of warning of their presence needed, even as the man stood there with his head turned away from them, eyes fixed on the screen to his right, and his earpiece ringing softly with someone else’s voice coming through. Jongdae wondered who it was the man was listening or speaking with.

Holding up one finger, the man that Kris had called “Lu” sighed before responding to whoever it was on the other end of his earpiece.

“Tell them that we’ve run out of stock then, and maybe some other store might have it. For the love of all that’s good, don’t people understand we only carry summer items in the  _ summer _ ?” he rolled his eyes and then sighed once more, “Listen, if they’re really adamant on the airconditioner, tell them to come down to guest services and I can deal with them when they get here.” the man nodded his head again and again as he listened in on the other employee’s words, before saying goodbye, “Yes I’ll be sure to mention it. Yes, thank you Jongin.” and then the man clicked off his earpiece and looked up and over at Kris and Jongdae as they stood there.

“Rough morning already?” Kris asked

The man - Lu - only shook his head, “Oh, you have no idea, boss.” but then he breathed a deep breath and composed himself, putting on a refreshing smile that seemed like a complete 180 from what he had just been, before asking what he could do for them today.

Kris explained that Jongdae was the new trainee he’d been talking about earlier, and that without the key pass, Jongdae wouldn’t be able to start his safety training. Or at least, he could, but that it wouldn’t save his responses or place in the program until he had a key pass and number to log it to. Of course, Kris could have just looked up that information and entered it all manually, but who wanted to do that?

“So...what do you have for me Luhan?” the manager asked, grin playing nice across his lips for about half a second before he was back to serious, reserved floor manager. 

Luhan - Lu - just waved a hand dismissively and walked to the other side of the guest services counter, rummaging around in the back with the stack of papers, sorting through a binder or two before he came across a manila envelope before producing it for Kris.

“All he needs is in the folder, had it printed off early this morning before the store opened, just to make sure.”

Yet again the boss grinned, this time wider, “Knew I could count on you, Lu.”

“Oh now don’t be saying that around here, wouldn’t want to think that I’m your favorite or anything like that.” but Luhan laughed and shook his head before there was a beeping sound coming from his earpiece and he had to answer it. He held up a finger before saying into the piece, “Thank you for calling Wall to Wall, this is Guest Services, how can I help you?” there was a pause before Luhan looked exasperated. “They locked themselves in the freezers  _ again _ ? Honestly, Kyungsoo, you would think after the first time you’d keep a key on you. Yeah, yeah, I’ll send Xing up with the keys.” 

The conversation continued, but Kris had patted Jongdae on the back only to tell him they’d be heading back to the offices at the other end of the floor so that Jongdae could at least start some of his safety training before his short first shift ended for the day. It was only supposed to be five hours, and glancing at the clock behind the guest services desk, it had already been just nearly two hours into his training shift.

“How do you like it so far?” Kris asked when they started walking towards the offices.

To be quite honest, Jongdae actually thought he was going to like it there. It may have been working in retail, and it may have only been temporary for the next few months until he saved enough to move out of state, but the people were nice - and interesting.

He could see himself enjoying, at least to an extent, the next several months. Maybe even staying longer than he had originally planned. After all, staying a little longer would only give him more money for the plans he had in the future. 

“I like it a lot.” he replied, and even threw in a half smile to top it off. 

Jongdae wondered what the second floor of the store would bring him.

…


	2. Paperwork

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jongdae meets some of the other employees on the second floor, and finishes his new hire paperwork.

Chapter Two:

The door was staring at him and Jongdae could have sworn that it was glaring. It had no eyes or a mouth or anything that it could possibly use to glare at him, but it was in fact glaring.

Jongdae checked the time on his watch: fifteen minutes to eight. Or a quarter until the store’s opening. This was the reason he was standing in front of the side door and hoping that somebody would realize he didn’t know how to open the darned thing without setting off the security alarm.

“Hey!” A  _ far _ too chipper voice came from the speaker next to the door, “Jongdae, right?”

“I’m, uh, yes.” Jongdae replied, still sleepy and out of it.

The sound of a chuckle came through the speaker right before the door clicked and a light flashed green, “Come on in.”

Jongdae nodded to nobody, though he felt it was appropriate, before opening up the door and stepping into the employee only area. There was short haired woman there behind the desk who was holding in a button to release the door alarm. When she saw Jongdae, she let off the button and the door locked shut behind him. It left just them and the few pre-opening flow team employees bustling about.

“I knew your face looked familiar. I interviewed you, right?” The woman he remembered now as Amber Liu said.

“Oh yeah!” He smiled, “I guess the interview went well.”

“Exceptionally.” She complimented, rounding the counter and giving him a once over, “You look ready to start your day.”

Jongdae’s smile must have looked fake enough to give him away, “Well, the coffee hasn’t hit yet.”

“That’s the spirit.” She joked briefly before turning back to a more serious tone, “I’m about to head out to morning huddle before hitting the second floor since I didn’t get a chance to check it out before you got here. Good to fall in behind?”

“Of course.”

“Alright. If you could just--” She patted her pockets until finding a piece of paper in her vest and pulling it out, “These are your clock in credentials. Should be active and ready to go so just clock in and meet me by guest services.”

Jongdae reached out and took the slip, “Thanks!”  
She gave one more inspiring smile before turning and heading out onto the floor.

…

“Aaaand …” Amber flipped another page over on her clipboard, “We’re on a goal of 79 for the day. That’s not too steep for a wednesday, I think we can get it, guys. Okay, break.”

Jongdae fell in behind her as she walked away from the group of employees. The clock flicked over to 8:00 AM and the store was now officially open, though still uninhabited aside from its employees.

“What’s a goal of 79 mean?” Jongdae asked.

“How much money we’re supposed to make today.” She explained, “Today is $79,000.”

“Wow.”

“Yep.”

They boarded the escalator after making it all the way across the floor from the registers. There was a touch of anticipation in Jongdae as he stepped onto the escalator. Seeing as there was an entire half of the store he hadn’t been in yet, the excitement was warranted. It eventually dumped them out against the back wall of the second floor, but turning around revealed a massive landscape of clothing in the distance.

“This is where Jisoo and Sehun live.” Amber gestured to the grand pasture as they made their way towards it.

“Sehun?” Jongdae asked.

“I’ll introduce you, don’t worry.”

He nodded once again and followed her into the forest of racks and folded tables. Her voice was steady and sure; making him think he could trust her even as he lost all sense of direction in the masses of clothing.  _ Didn’t they pass that dress already? _ Eventually the glowing sign appeared reading “FITTING ROOM” and they had met their destination.

“Sehun!” Amber called out.

A tall boy with bleached out hair spun around in a chair. He had a PDA in one hand and a pair of nondescript jeans in the other.

He rolled his eyes at Amber, “It’s an online item. I hate making tags for online items. Amber, you know I hate making tags for online items that get returned.”

“Yes, Sehun. I do know.” She reassured him, a smile still present on her face, “I brought by our newest hire for you to meet. This is Jongdae.”

Jongdae did a little wave as he stepped up in line with the manager. He was only an inch or two above her maybe, but was certainly much shorter than the blond guy cramped up behind the fitting room desk.

Sehun didn’t make any moves to shake his hand or wave. He raised a single eyebrow at him for a moment before speaking, “Short sleeve button up, huh? Bold choice. Especially with such a crisp royal blue.”

Jongdae looked at Amber who only offered a sympathetic shrug as Sehun continued to hum about his fashion choices.

After a moment of what looked to be exhausting thought, Sehun made a final decision, “I like it. You’re good in my book. Though I think you could consider wide rim glasses to accessorize.”

“I’m …” Jongdae struggled, “Thank you?”

“That’s a weird name.” Sehun grinned, “Hope to see you soon, Thank you.”

…

Jongdae almost didn’t notice when they changed departments. They came into the athletic clothing and the edge of the shoes section that was filled with tennis shoes for running and sports. It wasn’t until he realized that he was looking at more water bottles and equipment did Jongdae realize they had officially crossed over.

“This is sporting goods.” Amber notified him, turning a corner, “And this is Jongin.”

The guy at the end of the aisle perked up, “Me?”

“Yes, you.” Amber chuckled, “We have a new employee. This is Jongdae.”

“Oh.” Jongin had a really charming smile and he spoke with confidence, “Nice to meet you. Where are you working?”

“Not sure yet.” Jongdae reached out his hand, which Jongin gladly accepted, shaking it with the firmness that you might expect somebody working with sports equipment to have.

“We’re going to shop him around a little bit. Not sure where payroll is going to dump hours when things pick up again.” Amber informed him, “I’m just introducing him to everyone while we walk the store. It looks good if you don’t look at the folded t-shirts tables.”

Jongin laughed, “Well, Chanyeol did close last night.”

“Of course.” Amber said, “We’re going to see Kyungsoo, I think.”

Jongin frowned, “I haven’t seen him all morning. Good luck.”

Judging by Amber’s facial expression, this wasn’t an entirely uncommon thing. Jongdae wondered briefly if he was a bit like Baekhyun and if so, how this store manages to make as much money as it does with employees disappearing to sleep and what not all the time.

He didn’t get an answer to his question, as they were quickly whisked off again. Once more he noticed how well the store flowed. From the larger work-out machines to protein powder and vitamins and then from there to other medicines and suddenly they were in the health department. Along the wall was a huge sign reading “PHARMACY” just in case anybody was blind enough to miss the glaring white counters.

Amber flipped to the grid of who was in the store today when they got up to the pharmacy counter. The steel gate was pulled down just behind the counter to keep people out and the lights were off too. She frowned, “I suppose the doctor is out for the day, but you’ll meet him some other time. Don’t worry.”

_ The Doctor? _ Jongdae wondered what that could be referring to. Pharmacists aren’t really doctors right?

“We still have to hit market.” Amber said, offering him no further explanation as she returned the chart to her side and started off along the back wall.

Jongdae followed obediently until he was looking at freezers and coolers full of TV Dinners and coffee creamer.

“This looks awful.” Amber groaned, referring to one of the coolers full of milk, “Where is Kyungsoo?”

She opened up the cooler and shifted a couple of the gallons of milk around to try and make them look better. Jongdae noticed there were a couple stuck in the back so he reached in as well, trying to grab them from the back to pull them forward. His arms, however, were a touch too short and a hand appeared from behind the milk to push it forward.

“Here.” Came a voice from beyond the cooler, “Also … I got locked in here. Could you help?”

Jongdae leaned over to look between the shelves of milk. He saw a set of round eyes that looked very, very tired.

“Really?” Amber sighed, pressing at the walkie in her ear to activate it, “Can I get security up to second floor with keys?”

“Thanks.” The voice responded meekly from within the cooler.

Amber turned her attention to informing Jongdae, “This is Kyungsoo. He’s head of the food department.”

“Do people get stuck in there a lot?” Jongdae asked.

“The restock people do it all the time.” Kyungsoo said from the beyond, “Unfortunately I trusted one of them to not lock me in this time. Lesson learned.”

Before Jongdae could comment further, a man with black hair and sharp blue security uniform appeared from around the bend. He was swinging a set of keys on his fingers while he walked towards what Jongdae could only assume was the door to the restock area. Amber went to meet him at the door, so Jongdae followed.

“Another lock in?” The security guy asked monotonously. When Amber nodded, he shot a glance at Jongdae, “Who is this?”

“I’m new here.” He paused, “And you are?”

“Overworked.” The guy responded.

He made short work of unlocking the door, yanking the huge metal contraption open and letting a blast of cold air exit in its wake. Kyungsoo and another guy immediately appeared at the door, eager to leave the arctic storage room.

“Thanks, Yixing.” Kyungsoo said to the security guy apologetically.

“It’s fine.” Yixing let out a breath, “It’s not like anybody is stealing anything at 8:30 in the morning anyways.”

“You never know.” Amber chimed in, “Since you’re both here, this is Jongdae. New hire. Jongdae, this is our security Yixing. He handles the cameras and undercover asset protection.”

Yixing nodded at him, finally smiling and showing that, yes, everybody in this store looks unusually attractive when they smile. Jongdae wondered if he should go back and practice in the mirror a bit to fit in. He let the door shut once Kyungsoo and the restock employee had stepped out of the way.

Amber nodded then, “I think this is everybody, actually. I’d like to get you started on paperwork as soon as possible.”

“Yeah.” Jongdae agreed, “I love signing things.”

“That’s the spirit.”

…

Jongdae  _ hated  _ signing things. He was mostly signing off that he understood things and had read and watched all training materials. It was a little ridiculous. There was even an entire packet on how to use a ladder. Who doesn’t know how to use a ladder? He continued to scribbled and check boxes at his spot in the break room, probably giving off bad vibes to the other people who were trying to take lunch breaks in peace.

“Seriously?” He muttered to himself, “They have to tell us to not share hypodermic needles?”

“Oh, wait what?” Baekhyun asked as he walked in, overhearing Jongdae’s squabbles, “Shit. I guess we have to stop doing that, Tao.”

Tao walked in behind him with a paper bag lunch in hand and whining along dramatically, “Aw, really?”

They both laughed as they sat down at a table next to Jongdae.

“Literally none of that matters.” Baekhyun commented, “You basically forget it all anyways. Just so the company can cover its back in case you do something dumb.”

Jongdae laughed. He still had a thin stack of papers to go through, but the little display did make him feel a bit less frustrated with the process. He continued to flip through them, using Baekhyun and Tao’s conversation as white noise to keep him concentrated on skimming through lines of whimsical text. He made it all the way through secure informations and flipped the last paper to see the sweet view of the table beneath it.

_ Finally _ .

With zero hesitation, he snatched the stack of papers and bounded out of the break room, down the hallway, and up to the main desk area. He was met by a much more bustling team center than this morning. Employees were locking up their items, chatting idly, clicking around on computers to make requests for time off, and just confabbing in general. He made  a beeline to the main desk where Amber was making a break schedule for the evening.

“All done!” He announced.

She raised her eyebrows, “Perfect. Actually, I do have one more for you. Short, though.”

Another paper slipped over the counter to him and she took the ones he had already finished up. The paper was titled Sexual Harassment and Dating Policies.

Amber continued, “You don’t have to read it really. Basically you can report sexual harassment confidentially. No red light and green light nonsense.”

“And … dating policy?” Jongdae looked up from the paper at her.

“Pretty basic. You just can’t date somebody that’s considered your superior. So me, Chanyeol, Kris, or once you get assigned to a department, whoever the team leader is.”

“I’m sure you’re heart broken.” Jongdae joked. He signed one more signature at the bottom of the page and passed it back to her.

“I know better than to date any of the guys here.” Amber said as she accepted the paper back to look it over. “Just give me one minute to make sure everything is in order.”

Jongdae understood, turning his back to lean up against the counter and watch all of the employees go about their little routines. He watched mindlessly for a few minutes until a tall guy stepped through the doorway and caught his attention.

“Amber, I’m in.” He called.

“Cool.” Amber responded, keeping her eyes on the documents before her, “I’m just finishing up the new guy’s paperwork.”

“Awesome.” Tall Guy approached Jongdae, putting a hand on his shoulder instead of the traditional handshake, “I’m Chanyeol. Night shift manager.”

“Jongdae.” Jongdae said for perhaps the 20th time in the past two days.

“Chanyeol, how was the zone last night?” Amber asked from behind them.

Chanyeol made a funny face, “Uh … is there a wrong answer here?”

“If you’re giving folded shirts a green then yes.”

“Then I’ll give folded shirts a solid yellow.” Chanyeol bit his lip, looking a bit scared.

“Why is something in clothing always off when you close?” Amber stood up, slapping a paperclip on the thick pile of papers, “You’re all good to go, Jongdae.”

Jongdae was quick to take the out, hopping away from the conversation and over to the timeclocks to clock out for the day. Amber and Chanyeol continued to go back and forth for a little bit as he gathered his things to go.

“You can do coaching tonight then.” Amber said distantly.

“Fine, yes. Who and why?”  
“Apparently Baekhyun and Jongin were playing hockey with cat food cans last night.”

As Jongdae was leaving, he passed Luhan who chimed in on the manager conversation with, “Again?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading! We'll be updated as we write, probably two chapters at once. This chapter was written by @quebaek. We'll more than likely alternate between writing chapters, but from here on out won't tell you who wrote which chapter - see if you can guess ~
> 
> Also you'll notice that the fic doesn't have relationships posted in the tags - this is to avoid spoilers. There will be a few different pairings within this fic, so look out for them.
> 
> Thanks again for reading <3
> 
> \- Ali & Kate

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all so much for reading! This part of the fic was written by @baeksbabygirl . We'll be switching off each chapter on who writes what, but we hope that you all enjoy, and if you have any input in what you'd like to see (i.e the craziness that they all get up to in the store) please let us know and we might write it in! Hope you enjoy <3
> 
> ~ Ali & Kate


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